


Fire Nation Enemy Number One

by rainbowtourmaline



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Avatar Katara (Avatar), Birthday Presents, F/M, Meet-Cute, Zutara Month, Zutara month 2017
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-02-23 14:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13192350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowtourmaline/pseuds/rainbowtourmaline
Summary: When Avatar Katara gets imprisoned by the enemy, she makes a very unlikely friend and ally.





	1. Meet Cute

When 14-year-old Prince Zuko pictured the Avatar his mind had supplied the image of a fearsome and terrifying waterbender, a wolf in human form, like the Water Tribesmen in Uncle Iroh’s scrolls. Waterbenders were nimble, sleek and moved as smoothly as their element – but the Crown Prince never forgot how big, imposing and lecherous looking their drawings were or how their cunning and crafty personalities leapt off the page. Zuko would always have to put Uncle’s scrolls away after looking into their carefully illustrated eyes for too long.

“Here she is Prince Zuko, Avatar Katara.” Fire Lord Ozai smirked as he opened to door to the dark prison. “Fire Nation Enemy Number One.”

Those illustrations were why Zuko would never forgot the first time he saw Katara chained up to the walls of the deepest, darkest prison in the palace.

That tiny, frail twelve-year-old body was a stark contrast to the large, hulking and healthy ones he saw in the scrolls. His gold eyes roamed those skinny legs and matchstick arms that matched her hollow cheeks. He took out his scroll from his pocket and compared the bodies in a desperate attempt to tell his mind that his assumptions and beliefs were still correct.

Prince Zuko also did his best to control his breathing.

“She looks nothing like the posters.” He finally said.

“Don’t be fooled into feeling sorry for her Zuko.” Ozai glared at his son. “She’s killed plenty of Fire Nation soldiers, so she is a lot more dangerous than she looks.”

Avatar Katara stared at the floor, as if she were admitting her guilt.

Zuko swallowed his own saliva.

“Why would she do that father?” Zuko asked, not understanding what was happening. “She’s just a child.”

“And you’re just a teenager.” Ozai quipped. “Who still has a lot to learn about how savage the Water Tribe can truly be, even at such a tender age.”

The Fire Lord glided across the floor like he was in his own chamber bed, leaving his son to stare at Katara.

“When you finally set foot on the battlefield, you’ll soon learn not to feel pity for the other nations. Just as she felt none for our fallen brethren.”

Zuko realised that his father was right, as his wisdom had led the Fire Nation to many victories, but that didn’t settle the bitter feeling in the pit of Zuko’s stomach. The Crown Prince decided that perhaps he should go talk to Uncle so his mind would be put at ease, the old man might help him understand how this little girl could bring herself to kill so many men.

“They were going to drown an entire Earth Kingdom village.” Zuko’s train of thought was broken by a small voice in a cage. Zuko blinked and looked Katara in the eye.

“Huh?”

“They were going to drown the entire village, so they could take it without having to fight the villagers.” The little girl said, meeting Zuko’s gaze with determined eyes. “I didn’t want to kill them, but they wouldn’t listen to me or Avatar Aang. I-I lost control, it was an accident. They were going to hurt my brother. I’m sorry.”

‘It’s a trick.’ A tiny voice that sounded a lot like Azula’s raced inside Zuko’s head. ‘The oldest one in the book.’

Zuko clenched the bars, knowing that it was a clever tactic for one to gain the sympathy of their enemy so they could plan their escape or next attack, but the honourable part of him didn’t want to be cynical at a time like this.

“I…” Zuko hesitated. He stared into those soft blue eyes that look utterly hopeless and lost his self-control. “I believe you.”

Avatar Katara blinked in surprise.

“You do?”

Zuko knew he would probably kick himself for this later but screw it. If a kid must be locked up in a cell, he could at least do his best to make them as comfortable as possible. “I do.”

“Is this a trick?” Katara asked and Zuko smiled gently at her.

“No.” he assured her, pleased at the way her shoulders seemed to relax at his answer. “Have you eaten? You look like skin and bone.”

“I’m not allowed a lot of liquids.” Katara gave a tired grin. “I’m a waterbender.”

“Ah.” Zuko wanted to smack his own forehead. “Right, sorry, I forgot.”

He forgot?!

Zuko groaned internally and gave a sheepish smile. “Let’s see if I can get you some food then.”

“I don’t think the guards will like that.” Katara said.

“Well it doesn’t matter, I’m the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation!” Zuko said, smugly putting his hands on his hips. “What I say goes!”

Zuko stopped smiling when the little girl started smiling and laughing for real, noting that the scrolls never said how pretty the laugh of small waterbenders were.

This did not please the guards.


	2. Birthday Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prince Zuko makes two discoveries: 
> 
> 1\. Katara is a Spring baby  
> 2\. Her fate is in his hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos in the last chapter guys, I'm glad you like the story so far.

Prince Zuko had been sneaking Avatar Katara food into her jail cell for nearly one year, dissatisfied with how her diet was making her scrawnier than she had been when she arrived. He tried to reason with the prison chef and said it simply wasn’t healthy for a twelve-year-old girl going on thirteen to have such a low protein diet, only for the older gentleman to say: “No offence your highness, but that is the point.”

Prince Zuko then tried to reason with the chef and said: “Would you deny your own daughter a birthday cake just because she was misled?” but he just laughed at that comparison, as if Zuko was comparing his baby girl to a wild tiger. It seemed everyone else was determined to keep Katara locked up like a dangerous animal when Zuko saw her differently.

“And then what did you do?” Zuko gripped the iron bars of Katara’s prison, leaning his head forward in anticipation of what she’d say next. The little girl gave a toothy grin that reminded him of a mischievous kitten.

“I water whipped him on the back of the head.”  

“No!” Zuko grinned as Katara threw her head back in laughter. “There’s no way you stood up to a Master!”

“I wouldn’t have gotten this good if I hadn’t.” Katara smirked. “Master Pakku handed my backside back to me after I challenged him to a fight, but he saw potential in me so he took me on as his student.”

“And I can’t even get Master Piandao to teach me the next set.” Zuko grumbled.

“You should try attacking him.”

“No!” Zuko shrieked at the very idea of assaulting a venerated war veteran.

“He’s not gonna take you seriously unless you show him how tough you are.” Katara grinned. “You gotta teach these old geezers some respect!”

“You’re so bad.” Zuko giggled. “You’re going to get me into trouble one day.”

“I hope so.” Katara smiled so much dimples started appearing in her shrunken cheeks. This caused Zuko to laugh harder than he had for a while at the time, but thinking back to when he had to leave that lonely little girl in her cell made his heart ache at how hungry she must have been. So he decided to do something to make up for the fact that she would be spending her thirteenth birthday in jail.

“Is it wise to bring her a birthday cake Prince Zuko?” his wise old Uncle asked him as he stirred the batter in his bowl while the kitchen staff were sleeping. “I’m worried you’re getting far too attached to this little girl. Please remember that your father has already warned you about visiting her cell too many times.”

“I know she’s different and that technically she’s our enemy.” Zuko said, putting down the bowl he was whisking. “But Katara seems like a smart and kind person, and the old scrolls you showed me did say that the Avatar is full of wisdom. I believe that once she’s experienced all the great things our nation has to offer, she’ll see that the Fire Nation is right and join our cause.”

Uncle Iroh visibly winced but didn’t say anything. “I hope you’re right nephew. Just promise me you will not get caught being nice to this girl, or your father may get the wrong idea.”

“My father is a man of honour. He will see and understand my point of view when the Avatar will fight by our side.”

* * *

 

Aside from cakes, sweets and other delectable treats Zuko couldn’t really give Katara that much without raising the suspicions of the guards but he did think she would like the bowl he was carrying her gifts in. Prince Zuko fondly remembered how his mother taught him the art of Kintsugi, where she would repair broken bowls or pots or vases with gold, silver or platinum. He kept a jade vase decorated with gold powder by his bed, where a single sunflower would sit proudly and happily absorb the light all day long.

Zuko hoped Katara would like her clay bowl with silver. Unfortunately, he couldn’t ask for gold powder or jade without making the staff suspicious, so he hoped that the materials he put together would be enough to make her happy for now. He put on his cloak and quietly closed the door to his his chambers, before vanishing off into the night to visit Katara in her cell. The prince was proud of how he could scale the walls and sneak past the guards without alerting them to his presence, and even got to listen in on some of their interesting conversations.

This conversation would be far too interesting for Zuko’s liking though:   

“Have you heard the good news?”  

“Have I ever! I’m so glad we don’t have to baby sit that brat anymore.”

“I don’t even know why they’ve kept the Avatar alive for as long as they have, we’d be so much better off with a firebender as the Avatar.”

“Yeah, then the other nations would realise that they’re better off with us in charge instead of pinning their hopes on a little girl.”

“Guys!” one of the female guards raised her voice. “We’re talking about executing a little girl here.”

Zuko thanked Agni that he didn’t drop Katara’s presents when she said that. He clamped his hand over his mouth to stop a gasp revealing his presence and kept listening.

“Not just any ‘little’ girl. She’s the Avatar.” One of the other guards butted in. “She’s dangerous.”

“She’s thirteen.” The female guard said. “So excuse me if I’m not happy about executing a child.”

“Well keep your feelings to yourself unless you want to be branded a traitor, the Fire Lord has made his decision and I don’t see why we should doubt his judgement when he’s brought us to victory thus far _Keiko_.” Keiko pouted and crossed her arms, looking away in disgust at her colleagues. “Your ethics mean little in winning this war, and neither does the life of that Water Tribe peasant.”

Much to Zuko’s pleasure, Keiko grabbed the other guard by the collar and slammed him into the wall as she hissed in his face: “War and glory mean nothing without honour Chen. You’d do well to remember our roots.”

She let him go and strutted off into the other direction, almost passing by Zuko’s hiding place.

“I knew it was a mistake for the Royal Family to let women into the royal guard, they’re so irrational!”

Zuko sat there shaking and fuming to the point where he almost boiled Katara’s pot into clay, but silently waited until the guards were gone.


	3. Indirect Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara makes Zuko keep a promise.

Prison sucked.

Katara missed her brother Sokka, Gran Gran, Hanna, Pakku, Yugoda, Jeong Jeong, Bumi and her friends Princess Yue, Suki, Haru, Toph and the other Water Tribe girls. She even missed Jet sometimes, even though he teased her. And she especially missed her dad, who she wished she could talk to again in case anything bad happened to her because she had sorely regretted what she said to him that night on the boat.

“What the hell is wrong with you now?” a guard barked at her.

“It’s just hay fever!” Katara retorted, sniffing her nose and blinking the water away from her eyes. 

Right now, Aang was her only friend behind these brick walls and as cool as the previous Avatar was, he couldn’t unchain her.

“Anything yet Aang?” she asked her friend in the middle of the night.

“Not yet, but maybe the hundredth time.” Katara groaned as Aang phased through her cuffed wrist again, his tongue sticking out in concentration.

“It’s no use Aang, I’m gonna rot and die in here!” she cried. “And I didn’t even get to challenge the Fire Lord to a fair fight.”

Aang floated away a little bit, not too far to make her feel lonely, just enough to give Katara some space.

“Bad guys don’t usually fight fair.” Aang smiled sympathetically and it made Katara’s heart pang with guilt.

“I’m sorry. I said I would avenge my mum, the airbenders, everyone in the Earth Kingdom who lost their home… but when it came to a real fight with the Fire Nation I lost.”

Aang frowned when Katara started crying angry tears. He didn’t like it when his predecessor took failure so hard, so he reached out to ‘touch’ her shoulder and spoke from experience:

“Don’t give up yet. I’m sure the others are figuring out a way to bust you out of this jail cell as we speak and who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and the guards will mess up! We could make a break for it. We’ve only got to be lucky once to get home and you’re smart enough to think of a plan if the guards… let down their guard.” Oh gosh did he just say that last part?

Katara gave a weak chuckle.

“You really believe in me, don’t you?” to be honest Katara didn’t think she could even run past the front door with how tired and hungry she felt, but her mentor’s words gave her a boost anyway.

“Absolutely!” Aang gave a cheesy grin, getting over his embarrassment. “The Fire Nation won this round, but they won’t win the war!”

“Thanks Aang, I’m glad we’re friends.” In truth Katara would have rather Aang died before meeting her, so he could have lived a long and happy life right up until he became a toothless old coot but she also didn’t know how she’d have coped with her Avatar duties without one of her oldest friends. Aang had phased in and out of her life since she was the age of five and it was hard to picture him not being around.

* * *

 

The airbending monk jumped out of his skin when he heard locks being turned and took that as his cue to disappear into thin air for the time being.

“I’ll see you later Katara!” Aang said. “Say hi to your friend for me!”

“He’s not my friend!” Katara bit back.

“Sorry, _boy_ friend.” Aang giggled when Katara stuck her tongue out at him as he phased through the wall.

Zuko was not her boyfriend. She didn’t even really know if he was her friend.

“Hi. Zuko here.” Zuko was nothing like the stories Gran Gran told her about firebenders or the men who came to invade her village when she lost her mother. His smile seemed like a genuine ray of sunshine in this dark and miserable prison compared to the cold stares and frowns everyone else greeted her with, he wore a suit of armour but didn’t cover his handsome face with those hideous helmets with demon horns sticking out of their head and he wasn’t aggressive or rude towards her. “It’s um, me from the other day. The one who forgot you were a waterbender. How have you been?”

Katara raised an eyebrow at him. If she wasn’t chained up against a wall she would have screamed: “How do you think I have been?” but her Gran Gran warned her that someone who pretended to be nice on the outside, often had a fuse waiting to explode on the inside.

“Okay, I guess.” Katara said quietly, looking at the ground. There was a small awkward silence she didn’t want to fill, but luckily for Zuko was in a social mood.

“Well, you’re going to feel even better when I feed you this kimodo rhino soup. I know you probably prefer arctic hen, but this has got lots of nutrients.”

Katara’s neck nearly snapped when she lifted her head to gawk at Zuko.

He brought a waterbender soup?

Was he stupid?

It’s not like she could escape given the state of her body right now but he did realise she could burn his face off with those kind of liquids?!

“Is it poisoned?” Katara asked without thinking.

“What?” Zuko seemed taken aback by her question. “No, not at all.”

Katara glared at him.

“I don’t believe you.”

“I swear on my honour.” Zuko said, looking her straight in the eye.

When Katara didn’t react or stop giving him the stink eye, the prince sighed and put down the tray he was carrying to take the bowl of soup in his hands, raised his spoon and delicately sipped on the savoury dish.

“What are you doing?” Katara asked.

“Proving to you that your dinner is uncontaminated.” Katara blinked.

“What does that mean?” she didn’t like the way she chuckled at him.

“It means that if the soup is poisoned, I shall share the same fate as you and die a horrible death.”

In that moment Katara decided that this prince among firebenders was a huge weirdo. He was polite to Katara, he didn’t see her as an animal to be abused or killed, he believed her when she said she was sorry for killing those soldiers and was now giving her a decent meal. He even sipped from it to assure her that his intentions were honourable.

“Okay but if I die you have to kiss me.”

Zuko nearly dropped his spoon.

“What?”

“I don’t wanna die without having my first kiss so you gotta kiss me before I pass on to the Spirit World.”

Katara could hear Aang roar with laughter in the background (he tried to keep quiet when other people around but there were times he just couldn’t contain himself no matter how hard he tried) and Zuko’s blush went from the tips of his ears down to his neck.

“I’m not going to kiss a twelve-year-old girl!” the 14-year-old gagged. 

“Well you’ll have to otherwise I’m not eating!” Katara pouted.

Zuko sighed, not willing to argue any further and returned to his normal colour palette.

“It doesn’t matter anyway because your food is not poisoned.” Zuko said as he approached her with the bowl. “My code of honour wouldn’t allow me to kill an enemy in such a manner.”

‘Sure because the Fire Nation is so honourable.’ Katara thought to herself as she sipped the soup from the spoon Zuko had been using. It was good.

* * *

 

“Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Katara, happy birthday to me.”

Katara sang to the lonely, bare walls of the prison she had looked at for what felt like forever. Zuko’s efforts to sneak her in some decent food had staved off death from starvation, but Katara had never been so thin and pale in her entire thirteen years of life and she just wished she could go home and eat her Gran Gran’s stewed sea prunes. When the pale light of the moon sneaked in past the bars, she wondered if the snow had started to become thinner in the South Pole now. She had liked playing in the sun with her brother, while their parents watched them.

“Sorry I don’t have a gift Katara.” Aang said. “I do however have some neat tricks!”

Katara gave a weak smile when Aang did his classic spinning marbles trick with his airbending, but didn’t get rid of the homesickness. He said that her friends and family would come to rescue her, why weren’t they here yet?

“That’s okay Aang.” Katara said. “I wasn’t expecting much anyway.”

Aang frowned. “Zuko might have a present for you! He always brings you things and listens to your stories.”

That thought made Katara feel a little better. She doubted Zuko would have brought something Katara would have been allowed to keep but the firebender always did cheer her up, even if only for a little bit. She was sceptical of his kindness at first and she would always pretend to be too tired or would bite his head off whenever he talked about the greatness of the Fire Nation, to the point where she almost told him about how she lost her mother to get back at him. She didn’t feel close enough to him to be able to express how painful that loss had been, but he still treated her like a person with her own opinions, wants and needs. That was a freaking lifeline for her.

“You’re right. It might not be such a bad birthday after all.” Katara didn’t want to believe in the existence of a ‘good’ firebender, no matter how much Aang told her otherwise. She also still wondered why Zuko hadn’t put a key in her soup, took out the guards or carried her with him out the window so that she could finally be free and with her family – but in her heart she couldn’t hate him. Zuko was idealistic and much too often believed the best in people who didn’t deserve his good will, but that was also what drove him to argue with the chefs and make sure she was comfortable as possible.

He was like a burning candle in a dark room. Sometimes quite literally.

When a hooded man entered her cell in the middle of the night, Katara gasped and thought they were finally going to put her out of her misery.

“Oh it’s just you Zuko.” She gave a hearty chuckle when she saw his face peaking out of his hood. “I thought you were Koh for a second.”

The corners of Zuko’s lips reached to his ears, but Katara saw something sad in his eyes.

“Happy Birthday Katara.”


End file.
